Anthony Sowell's Home of Horror

As a registered sex offender, Anthony Sowell checked in regularly with U.S. law-enforcement authorities, who also monitored him by making home visits. But since Sowell wasn't on parole or probation, they didn't have the right to enter - until Oct. 29, 2009, when they had search and arrest warrants after a woman said he had raped her there. That's when they say they discovered badly decomposed bodies in the house.

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The three-story home of Anthony Sowell with neat white siding is in a crowded inner-city neighborhood of mostly older houses, some boarded up, and small corner stores. The windows on the third floor, where the first two bodies were found, were wide open on Nov. 1, 2009, as a slight breeze blew. Some neighbors said a bad smell came from the house several months ago, but they thought then that it might be natural gas.

Credit: AP Photo

Crimesider has discovered that Anthony Sowell, the convicted sex offender now suspected of murdering at least 11 women whose badly decomposed bodies, police say, were found in his Cleveland home, cruised an online sex fetish website called Alt.com, where he described himself as a "master" looking for a submissive person "to train."

Credit: Alt.com/Personal Photo

The gruesome discovery left some in the community concerned about women who hadn't been seen in a long time. Ida Garrett, 72, said she was worried that a friend who went missing six months ago might be among the dead. The friend, 43-year-old Nancy Cobbs, lived one street away from Anthony Sowell. She was reported missing in April, and her family told police they fear she is among the victims.

Credit: AP Photo

Cleveland police search the porch at the home of Anthony Sowell, where at least 11 bodies have been discovered since Oct. 30, 2009, in Cleveland. Police in Cleveland say officers who went to a home looking for a rape suspect found two decomposing bodies upstairs and what appeared to be a freshly dug grave in the basement.

Credit: AP Photo

Anthony Sowell often walked around his neighborhood asking for money and looking for scrap metal to sell, neighbors said. On Sowell's Alt.com profile, he described his ideal partner as submissive and willing to "please...anytime, anyplace and anyway." He also describes himself as a "performer," someone who "loves to be around people."

Credit: Alt.com/Personal Photo

The gruesome discovery left some in the community concerned about women who hadn't been seen in a long time. Ida Garrett, 72, said she was worried that a friend who went missing six months ago might be among the dead. The friend, 43-year-old Nancy Cobbs, lived one street away from Anthony Sowell. She was reported missing in April, and her family told police they fear she is among the victims.

Credit: AP Photo

At least five of the women found in Anthony Sowell's home had been strangled, said a spokesman for the Cuyahoga County coroner. Decomposition made it difficult to determine how at least two died. The bodies "could have been there anywhere from weeks to months to years," said officials.

Credit: AP Photo

Anthony Sowell, 50, previously spent 15 years in prison for the choking and attempted rape of a 21-year-old woman who was lured to his bedroom in 1989, police said. The first bodies were found Oct. 29, 2009, when police went to arrest Sowell on new charges of rape and felonious assault, but he wasn't home. He was arrested on Oct. 31, 2009, when officers spotted him walking down the street in his neighborhood.

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CBS Affiliate 19 Action News has learned there are two women currently missing who both lived within several blocks of Anthony Sowell. Janice Webb, 49, went missing on June 3, 2009, and Nancy Cobb, seen here, went missing on April 24, 2009.

Credit: CBS/19 Action News

At least five of the 11 women found in Anthony Sowell's home were strangled, cops said. Decomposition made it hard to determine how at least two have died. The bodies "could have been there anywhere from weeks to months to years," said officials. CBS Affiliate 19 Action News says there are two women currently missing who both lived within several blocks of Sowell. Nancy Cobb, seen here, went missing on April 24, 2009.

Credit: AP Photo

Anthony Sowell, right, stands behind public defender Kathleen DeMetz during his court appearance Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009, in Cleveland. Sowell, 50, has been charged with five counts of aggravated murder and held without bond after at least 11 bodies were discovered in his home over the past few days. Sowell was ordered held without bond.

Credit: AP Photo

Cleveland police chief Michael McGrath talks about the four additional bodies and a skull found at Anthony Sowell's house Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009 in Cleveland. The gruesome discoveries raises to 11 the number of bodies found in and near the house, as police also searched boarded-up homes in the neighborhood where residents complained for years of a stench that one even said "smelled like a dead body."

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Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, right listens as Cleveland police chief Michael McGrath talks about the four additional bodies and a skull found at Anthony Sowell's house, Nov. 3, 2009 in Cleveland. The gruesome discoveries raises to 11 the number of bodies found in and near Sowell's house.

Credit: AP Photo

Anthony Sowell, right, stands behind public defender Kathleen DeMetz during his court appearance Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009, in Cleveland. Sowell, 50, has been charged with five counts of aggravated murder and held without bond after 11 bodies were discovered in his home over the past few days. Sowell was ordered held without bond.

Credit: AP Photo

Anthony Sowell, right, stands behind public defender Kathleen DeMetz during his court appearance Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009, in Cleveland. Sowell, 50, has been charged with five counts of aggravated murder and held without bond after 11 bodies were discovered in his home over the past few days. Sowell was ordered held without bond.

Credit: AP Photo

Police have confirmed a total of at least 11 victims whose remains were found in the Cleveland home of sex offender Anthony Sowell. The Cuyahoga County coroner's office said on Nov. 4, 2009, that a skull found in a bucket in Sowell's basement belonged to a body they have not yet found. Officials have identified one of the victims as 52-year-old Tonia Carmichael, who disappeared a year ago.

Credit: Ohio Attorney General's Office

"They told us to go home, and as soon as the drugs are gone, she'll show up," said Markiesha Carmichael-Jacobs, whose 53-year-old mother, Tonia, a drug addict, vanished Nov. 10, 2008. Police identified her on Nov. 4, 2009, as one of the victims, saying her body was found buried in the backyard of Anthony Sowell.

Credit: National Center for Missing Adults

The discovery of at least 11 bodies in one Cleveland home has relatives of the presumed victims wondering how such a gruesome scene could have gone unnoticed, maybe for years. They charge that police ignored their missing person reports. Anthony Sowell was ordered held without bond on Nov. 4, 2009, on five counts of aggravated murder.

Credit: AP Photo

No one is sure how long Anthony Sowell, a registered sex offender who would offer free barbecue to the neighbors, had been living in his three-story house with corpses lying around, many of them black women who had been strangled. Police have recovered bodies in the living room, crawl spaces and backyard graves from the home on Imperial Avenue. There was even a skull in the basement.